All times and cultures know sacrifice rituals that seem to give structure to life, also providing support against the unexplainable. Such rituals are hardly imaginable without music and dance: The rhythm releases unfathomable forces and energies up to trance states and ecstasy, the repetition of the smallest melodic building blocks has a meditative and contemplative effect, the singing touches the innermost soul, but can also unite large crowds into a singing unity. In Christina C. Messner's work, all this flows into each other as she takes up, processes, and re-contextualizes traditional songs, actions, movements, and images in connection with words from interviews and conversations. Her music-theater format for two performers from the fields of acting and music and a scientific speaker serves as a forum, projection surface, and laboratory. It invites you on a journey along the narrow ridge between experiment and song, between catchy and artistically abstract, between noise and melody.

7:15 PM Concert Introduction

In collaboration with GEDOK e. V.

On the same evening, the concert by Christina Meissner and Jörg Becker "Light! A Cello in the Ecstasy of Hildegard of Bingen" will also take place from 9 to 10 PM at St. Gertrud. Combination tickets for both events are available.

Cast: Christina C. Messner – Concept, Composition, Music Anna Magdalena Beetz – Concept, Direction, Acting Dr. Claude Messner – Social Psychological Studies, Speaker as well as Ela Schu Jennifer von Buch Leonie Pohlmann

Program: Traditional songs, chants, rituals, texts, and images from past times and different cultures such as an "Agnus Dei" (Gregorian chant 13th century), "Wa Habibi" (traditional Arab-Syrian Easter song), a song of Hildegard of Bingen, Jewish songs of the Passover tradition, and the Zar ritual (cult from North Africa and the Middle East) will be taken up, processed, and re-contextualized together with the current compositions by Christina C. Messner based on the interviews.